Rise and Fall of Arela

Great Causeways

The Great Causeways of Arela are considered the second of the Nine Wonders of Arela. The Great Causeways are similar in effect and appearance to the Shivar Docks and the siege walls of Ceres. Man or beast utilizing the unbroken and unworn by time roads are immune to fatigue and able to keep an impressive pace near indefinitely. Also the wild roaming undead of the countryside are unwilling or unable to cross the great roads, making them extremely valuable corridors and natural boundaries.

There are two Great Causeways heading west directly from the Shivar Docks, one to the city of Ceres and another to the city of Kharlin. From Ceres another Great Causeway heads further west, and still another heads north to the Northern Forts, which are themselves all interconnected by the Great Causeway of the north.

Curiously there are several ancient paths and roads of similar size and structure to the Great Causeways but well worn by the passage of time and with no apparent magical properties. Roads of this kind have still been very useful in the expansion of settlers throughout Arela, but are not the boon to transportation their magical counterparts have been. Roads of this type head North and South from Shivar, and connect the cities of Troy and Partha to Kharlin and Ceres respectively. Construction of bridges and the style of stonework in sections that have survived better the erosion of time have shown that the construction type and methods of these roads to the Great Causeways are identical. There is speculation as to whether all of these roads shared the properties of the Great Causeways, or if they all, including the Great Causeways themselves, were simple mundane roads built by the ancient Arelans and the Great Causeways were later blessed with their current miraculous power.

Even without the magical properties, the extent of the road system in Arela is considered an engineering marvel and must have taken a monumental effort to construct.